• vi. 惡化，變壞
• vt. 惡化

de-, 向下。-ter, 比較級后綴，見interior. 即使更下，惡化。

deteriorate

deteriorate: [16] The meaning of deteriorate resides etymologically in its first syllable, which represents the Latin preposition dē ‘down’. To this was added the adjectival suffix -ter, to produce *dēter ‘bad’, and this in turn was modified with the comparative suffix -ior to dēterior ‘worse’. Dēterior formed the basis of the verb dēteriorāre ‘get worse’, source of English deteriorate.

deteriorate (v.)

1640s (as a past participle adjective, 1570s), from Late Latin deterioratus, past participle of deteriorare "get worse, make worse," from Latin deterior "worse, lower, inferior, meaner," contrastive of *deter "bad, lower," from PIE *de-tero-, from demonstrative stem *de- (see de). Originally transitive in English; intransitive sense is from 1758. Related: Deteriorated; deteriorating.

1. The position of the have-nots in our society could deteriorate even further.

窮人的社會地位可能會進一步惡化。

來自柯林斯例句

2. Food is apt to deteriorate in summer.

食物在夏天愛變質.

來自《現代漢英綜合大詞典》

3. Police, weary and increasingly sour in mood, wonder aloud why the situation has been allowed to deteriorate.

警察們疲憊不堪，心情也越來越糟糕，他們不禁滿腹狐疑地問：為什么聽憑情況不斷地惡化下去？

來自柯林斯例句

4. There are fears that the situation might deteriorate into full-scale war.

人們擔心形勢可能惡化而演變成一場全面戰爭。

來自辭典例句

5. This food will deteriorate rapidly on contact with air.

這種食物一接觸到空氣即迅速變壞.

來自辭典例句